Seema and Pooja Meena (sisters) from Jyotipura, a village near Rajasthan’s Kota have come to the city to run a makeshift, temporary sugarcane juice stall. With the summer, comes the struggle to find the right thirst-quencher and according to experts, sugarcane juice is one of the healthier options. In the IIT and medicine coaching hub of the country, the sale of this evergreen summer drink picks up but with a twist. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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A woman vendor touches up her make-up near her sugarcane juice stall. An estimate of 800-1000 women hailing from Rajasthan’s Tonk district come to Kota during the summer to run these stalls. What is unusual is their emphasis on going the extra mile while dressing up to serve their customers. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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These women from Tonk manage all the chores themselves, which includes operation of the electricity-run juice machine, cleaning the utensils and delivering the juice to the customers. On an every day basis, there are about 20-25 such juice stalls in Kota’s Nayapura area, which run from around 8am-12am daily. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Hari Ram Meena, a sugarcane juice seller displays a permit slip issued to him by the Kota Municipal Corporation. Most of these sellers are members of the Meena community, who’re engaged primarily in agriculture. Permits from the municipal corporation are obtained after paying the statutory charges of Rs. 9050 levied for permission to ply their trade from the pavement located in the Nayapura, not far away from Talwandi, where Kota’s famed educational institutes are situated. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Quite naturally, what catches the eye of most people is the outfit sported by the lady vendors in a country, where women vendors barely make enough money to run homes . On being asked why they dress up, they said this actually helps them in selling the juice. Seema said, “Let me put it this way. If Bollywood actors come decked up in every movie, then why not us? After all, we too have to earn our livelihood.” (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Ramgani, a 17-year-old from Datunda, serves a glass of juice to a customer in the car. Ramgani and her sister Pinki earns around Rs.800 – 1000 per day and on being asked if they ever felt uncomfortable while working, Ramgani said, “That it does not affect me at all, as long as I ensure each person buys no less than 7-8 glasses. And in case someone behaves indecently, I have by father and brother along to tackle them.” (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

about the gallery

During the summer, Kota in Rajasthan witnesses an influx of women from the nearby Tonk district to run sugarcane juice stalls. They dress up a little more than other vendors, making sure they stand out in style.